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“Don’t be.” Morgan’s response is fast and it catches Lily a bit off guard. She lets go of her friend’s hand and looks to Theo who whispers, “Long story.”
The light changes and Theo returns his attention to the road. Lily turns back to the front, too.
I’m still leaning forward, my safety belt snug against my chest and hips as I continue to study Morgan’s face. It’s practically void of emotion, though I know in my gut that underneath the surface is anything but calm. She may hate her father for many reasons, but a health scare still triggers a reaction in hearts and heads. Given her history with her dad, she’s likely struggling even more.
Mustering the courage to take her wrath if that’s how she decides to react, I reach my hand over slowly until my fingers brush against her arm. She looks down as my hand wraps around her forearm, and her gaze pops up to my eyes soon after.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask, my voice hushed as I work to make this as private as possible in the back seat of our friend’s car.
She looks at me and blinks, her mouth a straight, unfeeling line.
“You didn’t stick around to talk,” she says.
My brow furrows, and she seems to give up on explaining but then suddenly turns back to face me, jerking her arm from my touch.
“I waited all night for you to show up. You brought over my ID and left, and I thoughtsurely, he wants to talk. Why would you bring something so trivial over late at night only to run away before I got home? Unless you were sneaking out and keeping me hidden from your dad, who thinks I’m a terrible, horrible person. Or maybe you needed to get to the field to throw a hundred passes at midnight for your precious football. Or maybe you just wanted to show me off to your friends back home, brag about hooking up withHot TikTok Girl.I know what people call me. I thought you were better than that, though. I guess I was wrong. You’re just like Toby Sullivan, only he’s bold enough to know he’s a dick. You’re still pretending not to be.”
She’s panting when she finishes her verbal assault. My pulse stopped somewhere around the part where she saidprecious football.None of this is going the way I want it to, and I feel like I’m running out of opportunities to get things right.
“Morgan, I’m sorry,” I say in a whisper, leaning toward her. As if Theo and Lily aren’t hearing every word of this. Hell, Morgan was so loud I’m sure somehow Brooklyn and Cameron had full audio in their car behind us.
“You’re sorry,” she says through a heartbroken laugh. “Tell me, James. Does your dad know where you’re at right now? And who you’re with?”
My eyes widen at her indictment, only a hint, but it’s enough for her to notice and tear my reaction apart.
“Why are you even here? Nobody wants you.Idon’t want you. In fact, I can hardly stand you,” she says, her eyes narrowing with a special kind of hate.
My chest grows hot, my heart twisting at her fury and pain. I know she doesn’t mean any of this, but as poor as her parents are at showing affection, she’s only every known the dramatic pushes and pulls. Before she can say more, I lean forward and undo my seat belt.
“I’m getting out here. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine,” I say at Theo’s ear. His eyes meet mine in the review mirror a second before I open the door and step onto the roadway.
I push the door closed and stare at Morgan’s profile, her arms crossed over her chest and her legs crossed as to close herself off from me as much as possible. I’m so angry at myself for losing her like this. And I’m angry at myself for falling for her in the first place because now I know how good she is, and unrequited feels fucking terrible. And I’m mad at my father for passing judgement on her so fast, for thinking that she, of everyone in this damn school, would be the one to ruin my shot. Not the Tobys of Welles, or my own damn self, but Morgan Bentley.
Theo pulls through the intersection as the light changes and I step back a few feet to wait for Brooklyn’s SUV to catch up, letting the two cars that were between us on the roadway pass. Brooklyn flashes her hazard lights and pulls to a stop right next to me, the car behind her blaring its horn.
“What’s wrong?” she asks out her window.
I grab the handle for her back seat and hop in before we hold up traffic for too long.
“Morgan kicked me out of the car,” I say as I buckle up and get settled in my new ride.
Brooklyn laughs for a second then looks up to peer at me in her mirror.
“Dude, you and me both.”
I give her a wry smile that quickly fades, then sink into the back seat and practice everything I’m going to say at the restaurant when I see her again. She may think I gave up, but I’m just getting started. There is no way I’m letting her get away without bleeding my heart dry to prove to her how sincere I am.
Chapter19
Morgan
Theo keeps eyeing me in the rearview mirror. I wish he’d just say whatever is on his mind. He and I aren’t so different. It’s the reason we always got along so well. It’s also the reason we sometimes loathe each other. When you’re so similar to someone, you understand their motivations and bad behaviors as much as you do the good stuff.
We pull into Biff’s parking lot and Theo backs into a spot. Lily opens her door, and I move to escape the back seat. But before my hand hits the handle, Theo holds up his palm.
“Lily, can you give us a second? Maybe order me a seven? Cherry coke?” he says.
“I’m fine. We can go in,” I protest.
